Played Texas Holdem online today using bitcoins.

From what I understand its illegal in the US to play texas holdem online, but using bitcoins is one way of getting around this.

I think the gambling aspect of Bitcoin is what will give it some solid support in the future. I even turned a couple people onto the poker site that
really have no interest in bitcoin itself, but they do love to play poker. Now they want bitcoins. Instant payout of winnings.. directly to you and
not to a bank, great stuff.

Originally posted by benrl
there is this random flip coin generator thing on TOR, that you can bet bit coins on, i believe its up to 50 btc, I messed around with that and made
20 bucks, was pretty cool.

I am a huge fan of bitcoin, anything to support the grey market.

I am also a huge fan. Definitely some hurdles bitcoin has to get through before it can be mainstream... The blockchain size is getting kinda big
these days. lol

Haha, tell me about it, it's ridiculous. Use the Electrum or MultiBit clients
and you'll solve that problem. Allow servers and miners to deal with the blockchain, every day bitcoin users don't necessarily need it.

I've got a question for you (or whoever else plays poker online).....Although I'm not a card player myself, I've always thought that half the
strategy of playing Poker is trying to read the other players expressions to try to figure out if someone is bluffing or really has a good hand (hence
the expression of when a good player that shows no emotion has a 'poker face')

Originally posted by DavidWillts
I used to play with beans as a kid, I think beans are still worth more than the bitcoin.

That's a pretty ignorant statement. I can trade my bitcoins for cash right now and have money directly into my bank within a couple hours in most
cases. I don't do it though cause the simple fact that I can gamble without government breathing down my neck gives it value.

I've got a question for you (or whoever else plays poker online).....Although I'm not a card player myself, I've always thought that half the
strategy of playing Poker is trying to read the other players expressions to try to figure out if someone is bluffing or really has a good hand (hence
the expression of when a good player that shows no emotion has a 'poker face')

Doesn't playing online take away that important strategy of the game?

I don't ever play to often in real life, but I got a girl playing who plays in the real world and cleans up. She is totally horrible online though
cause of this reason

I've got a question for you (or whoever else plays poker online).....Although I'm not a card player myself, I've always thought that half the
strategy of playing Poker is trying to read the other players expressions to try to figure out if someone is bluffing or really has a good hand (hence
the expression of when a good player that shows no emotion has a 'poker face')

Doesn't playing online take away that important strategy of the game?

Im a huge fan of poker and while I do prefer live games due to the social side of it I play online almost everyday.

When you say "reading" its not so much about emotion or expression as it is about pattern recognition, for instance what a player does when he has a
good hand, how much he bets, how quickly he does it, how he acts at different positions in relation to the blinds etc etc

I guess its what ur used to but its just as easy to read someone online as it is live if you know what to look for.

Ive just started getting OK due to some lessons from my mate who plays for a living, in the past month Ive won just over $3000 US!!!!!

In fact Im playing right now, while typing this post I won 2 games for $20

So I assume you live in a country where it's legal to play online poker?

but at least its tangible and I can hold it in my hands.

Yeah, but every note you hold has a serial or number which corresponds to a
computer entry somewhere. If that entry were to disappear the note would be considered a counterfeit by all banks and holding it would mean nothing.
In the end the real value of the money is determined by some 1's and 0's on a computer some where.

Something flying around cyberspace seems a bit scary to me.

It's no different to doing an online bank transfer, it's just a billion
times more secure and much more anonymous.

So with the poker do u actually play with bitcoins or you use them to purchase cash at the site?

No, as Mayabong explained, you simply
buy chips with bitcoin. You can convert the bitcoins into cash at a later time if you wish, but it isn't absolutely necessary, because many things can
be purchased directly with bitcoins these days. I also prefer to save my wealth in the form of bitcoins because Government fiat money depreciates at a
stupid pace whilst bitcoins actually tend to go up in value.

I've got a question for you (or whoever else plays poker online).....Although I'm not a card player myself, I've always thought that half the
strategy of playing Poker is trying to read the other players expressions to try to figure out if someone is bluffing or really has a good hand (hence
the expression of when a good player that shows no emotion has a 'poker face')

Doesn't playing online take away that important strategy of the game?

Im a huge fan of poker and while I do prefer live games due to the social side of it I play online almost everyday.

When you say "reading" its not so much about emotion or expression as it is about pattern recognition, for instance what a player does when he has a
good hand, how much he bets, how quickly he does it, how he acts at different positions in relation to the blinds etc etc

I guess its what ur used to but its just as easy to read someone online as it is live if you know what to look for.

Ive just started getting OK due to some lessons from my mate who plays for a living, in the past month Ive won just over $3000 US!!!!!

In fact Im playing right now, while typing this post I won 2 games for $20

Very interesting....So it is possible to "read" people, even over the computer, due to the way they bet? That's actually pretty fascinating....I'd
never thought of that possibility.

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